Use when writing Terraform.
65
51%
Does it follow best practices?
Impact
84%
1.55xAverage score across 3 eval scenarios
Passed
No known issues
Optimize this skill with Tessl
npx tessl skill review --optimize ./terraform/SKILL.mdQuality
Discovery
22%Based on the skill's description, can an agent find and select it at the right time? Clear, specific descriptions lead to better discovery.
This description is critically underdeveloped. It provides only a minimal trigger ('writing Terraform') with no explanation of what the skill actually does — no concrete actions, no capabilities, and no comprehensive trigger terms. It would be very difficult for Claude to confidently select this skill over others in a large skill library.
Suggestions
Add concrete actions describing what the skill does, e.g., 'Generates Terraform modules, configures providers, defines resources, and manages infrastructure-as-code patterns.'
Expand trigger terms to include natural variations like 'infrastructure as code', 'IaC', '.tf files', 'HCL', 'cloud provisioning', 'terraform modules', 'terraform configuration'.
Restructure to clearly answer both 'what' and 'when', e.g., 'Generates and reviews Terraform configurations including modules, providers, resources, and state management. Use when writing or reviewing Terraform code, .tf files, HCL, or infrastructure-as-code.'
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Specificity | The description contains no concrete actions at all — it doesn't say what the skill does with Terraform (e.g., write modules, configure providers, manage state). It is entirely vague about capabilities. | 1 / 3 |
Completeness | It provides a 'when' clause ('Use when writing Terraform') but completely lacks the 'what' — there is no description of what the skill actually does. The 'when' itself is also very thin and non-specific. | 1 / 3 |
Trigger Term Quality | It includes 'Terraform' which is a natural keyword users would say, but misses common variations and related terms like 'infrastructure as code', 'IaC', '.tf files', 'HCL', 'terraform plan', 'terraform apply', 'cloud provisioning'. | 2 / 3 |
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk | 'Terraform' is a fairly specific technology domain which helps distinguish it, but the lack of detail about what it does means it could overlap with general coding skills or other infrastructure-related skills. | 2 / 3 |
Total | 6 / 12 Passed |
Implementation
79%Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.
This is a solid, concise Terraform best practices skill that provides actionable code examples and clear conventions. Its main weaknesses are the lack of explicit workflow sequences with validation checkpoints (e.g., plan/validate/apply cycles) and the absence of progressive disclosure through references to supplementary files for deeper topics like testing or provider-specific security hardening.
Suggestions
Add an explicit Terraform workflow section with validation checkpoints (e.g., fmt → validate → plan → review → apply) to improve workflow clarity.
Consider splitting provider-specific security guidelines (AWS, Azure) into separate referenced files to improve progressive disclosure and keep the main skill focused.
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Conciseness | The content is lean and efficient throughout. It avoids explaining what Terraform is or how HCL works, assumes Claude's competence, and every section delivers actionable information without padding. | 3 / 3 |
Actionability | Provides concrete HCL code examples for naming conventions, conditional patterns, and stable referencing with for_each. Includes specific file/directory structures and clear do/don't comparisons that are directly usable. | 3 / 3 |
Workflow Clarity | The skill covers patterns and conventions well but lacks explicit multi-step workflows with validation checkpoints. For example, there's no guidance on plan → validate → apply sequences, no mention of `terraform validate` or `terraform plan` as verification steps before applying changes. | 2 / 3 |
Progressive Disclosure | The content is well-organized with clear section headers and a logical progression from best practices to naming to structure to patterns to security. However, it's a moderately long single file with no references to external files for deeper topics (e.g., testing framework details, provider-defined functions), and some sections like security guidelines could benefit from being split out. | 2 / 3 |
Total | 10 / 12 Passed |
Validation
100%Checks the skill against the spec for correct structure and formatting. All validation checks must pass before discovery and implementation can be scored.
Validation — 11 / 11 Passed
Validation for skill structure
No warnings or errors.
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Table of Contents
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